Kindred by Octavia E. Butler -- book review

Kindred is probably Octavia Butler's best known book. Butler found her categorization as a science fiction writer "boring", and classified Kindred as a kind of fantasy/horror novel. Kindred is often used in literature classes--maybe because it's a kind of literary twofer--a fantasy with a Black author and a woman author. In any case, Kindred is un-put-downable.

In short, Kindred is the story of a woman who gets sucked into the past each time one of her progenitors is in mortal danger. The kicker is that the progenitor is a white, Southern, slaveowner and the woman is a modern-day (1976) Black woman. Warning--If you haven't read Kindred, yet, and you want to, spoilers follow.

Dana, the Black woman from 1976 is 26 years old, married, and a writer the first time she gets pulled into the past to save the life of Rufus Weylin, who is about to drown in a river. Rufus is only about 3 or 4 years old, and he has "stepped in a hole" while wading. His useless mother is standing on shore, when Dana pops into the picture, jumps into the water, and pulls Rufus out. As Dana is giving Rufus mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, his father arrives with a rifle and aims it at Dana, thinking she is killing Rufus. Mercifully, Dana is propelled back into her present. When she returns, her husband tells her she's only been gone for a few seconds. Although he can't explain her dripping, muddy return, Dana's husband Kevin finds it hard to believe the story she tells him about where she's been.

Again and again throughout Rufus's life, Dana is pulled into his presence when he faces death. Sometimes her visits last a few hours or days, and sometimes they last months. One time, Kevin grabs Dana as she is about to vanish and is carried along with her. He is forced to remain in the past for 5 years without Dana, when she is sent back to the present while not in his presence.

In Dana's visits to the past, she experiences slavery first-hand. She also learns to like and pity Rufus, even while she reviles him. Dana knows she will only be freed from her unwelcome "disappearances" when Rufus is dead, but she also knows that if he dies before begetting their ancestral link, she will never exist.

Octavia Butler said she wrote Kindred in order to try and make people "feel" slavery. I think she was pretty successful in her goal, even though Kindred is not my favorite among her novels. There is a plethora of information about Kindred on the web. Here are some sample links:

http://www.wab.org/events/allofrochester/2003/interview.shtml

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/butler.html

http://www.freebooknotes.com/book.php3?id=1223